"Yeah, the rain is not letting up here, either." Amelia pulled back the curtain to watch the ongoing rain outside. It was dark, but if you focused enough you could see the current of rain going to the left with the wind.

Amelia switched the phone to her right, "Don't wait up for me," Leon spoke into the line.

"Alright. Be safe, okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry. See you soon."

"Right, good night."

"Good night. Sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, I will. Bye." Amelia waited for Leon to say bye. He didn't say it right away, their breaths caught up, the call lingering and then a soft "bye," before Amelia heard the phone click.

Amelia threw her phone on the sofa before jumping on it with a loud sigh. 4 months for her to recuperate were given to her. By now her leg was fine and she almost missed work. She was undoubtedly bored, left with only a busy mind that irked her with pressing thoughts she didn't really want to deal with. She sat up to reach for the remote before laying back down on the sofa and turning the television on- the voices of a news show began to drone on.

Amelia stirred awake, unaware when exactly she had fallen asleep, surprised to have fallen asleep at all. Shortly after Leon had moved in he had discovered her sleeping pills and urged her to stay off them, claiming they were addictive and that there were alternatives to gaining sleep. She begrudgingly threw them away, but to her surprise sleep did come and so she held off her reproach. It was not normal sleep, for she often came awake ahead of her waking hours, but it was natural sleep and it always was relieving to wake from it.

Chapter 8

Amelia looked around the apartment and sighed slowly, realizing she had been holding her breath for long. Amelia put a hand up to her forehead, she had only been dreaming. She felt consolation, but at the same time something lingered, but it didn't last as she quickly picked up a faint turn and jingle of keys. Leon was home.

Leon pushed the door open quite surprised to find Amelia standing before him. She was in her lounge wear, "You haven't gone to sleep yet?"

Amelia hesitated for a moment. "I did, but I heard the door."

Leon walked towards the living room, leaving his laptop and jacket near the armchair. "I'm sorry," he meant it sincerely. He knew how hard it was for Amelia to fall asleep most of the time.

"It wasn't you," Amelia crossed her arms. "How's work?"

Leon shook his head, it was then that Amelia noticed how tired he seemed. "Things aren't going so well. The data we gathered has been…it's missing."

"What!?" Amelia didn't measure herself. Maybe that was the reason Leon stayed long at the office. He knew all too well how combustible Amelia was and the last thing he needed today was an argument.

Amelia was about to begin. She felt fury rise in her. They had gone to such lengths, both outside the office and inside. For crying out loud she had even broken her leg trying to find evidence for theories she had developed. A knot formed in her throat as she tried to gather herself, "What about my data? Is it still there?"

Leon looked away. It was clear someone had tampered with the evidence, someone inside the office, but how to confront them? How to catch them without scaring them off first? Leon had kept quiet about it and had gone searching by himself for the missing files. When he came across Amelia's desktop and how everything had been wiped clean as if she hadn't sat on that desk long hours for months on end. The data had to be saved elsewhere, but it was nowhere. He tried to check for encryptions, but not an expert on that he failed. He was still debating whether to aid Hunnigan, of course she wouldn't be the one, but why did he hesitate?

"We have to go back." Amelia stared at him with such resolve that made him chuckle to which she quickly asked why this was so funny to him.

"You're too predictable." Leon smiled at her. He knew they had to go back. He knew they had to do something. After spending hours looking for some lead back at the office he knew that he couldn't just sit and wait for answer to arrive. Why he had held off coming home he wasn't too sure. He knew just how Amelia was going to react. Fact, she was playing her role right this instance, but part of him didn't want to go, at least, not with her. She was still recuperating.

Amelia stared at him blankly for a moment. "You mean I've become too predictable."

Leon shook his head. "It's a good thing. I always know what to come home to."

"Or not," Amelia crossed her arms. He smiled genuinely at her, but again the thought of concern crossed his mind to which she interjected, "I'm fine. I'm fine now."

Leon pondered this for a second. Amelia did have expertise in quick analysis, what with having been cooped up in an office for long and because of her background. She was indispensable in analyzing the data. Yet, he hesitated, but he just nodded in agreement. "You look well," he added, as if reminding himself.

.

.

Amelia sat by the window sipping a cup of coffee. As usual the night passed and she was sleep deprived. Soon it'd be dawn and Leon and her were to depart back to Russia. Until then she decided to take the time to gather her thoughts. Her thoughts weren't on so much who had gone to the lengths of erasing data she personally collected, but as to why. She was so lost in thoughts that when a pair of arms wrapped around her she jumped in surprise.

"Up already?" Leon joined her on the windowsill, wrapping his arms around her tightly. He was warm. Amelia closed her eyes as she let her head fall on his chest.

"What are we doing?" Amelia looked up at Leon.

He leaned in for a kiss. "Let's not talk about that now." He brushed away her bangs just a bit. He kissed her forehead. Amelia felt a knot form in her throat. What was she doing? But the thoughts didn't linger as Leon leaned in for another kiss on her lips. Leon pulled her with more certainty towards him. He kissed her tenderly, wantingly, she found herself unable to pull away. Her thoughts were quicky swept away as he pulled her closer and she made herself lost in this moment, in between the breaking of dawn and a new day.